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By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News ABUJA (Worthy News) – Dozens of Christians remained missing Tuesday after armed persons attacked churches in Nigeria’s northwest Kaduna state, killing at least three people while abducting a pastor and some 30 worshippers, Christians said. Sunday’s attacks in the Bakinpah-Maro community of Kaduna’s KajuruLocal Government Area were carried out by so-called “bandits” who experts say often have ties to Muslim extremist groups. Officials said a large group of criminals carrying guns arrived around 10 am local time. Several were seen shooting or otherwise attacking a church of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) denomination and a Catholic church in the area. A pastor of one of the churches, Bernard Gajera, was among those kidnapped, Worthy News learned. The violence came two days after Nigeria’s army rescued 13 hostages who were kidnapped in Kaduna state following a military operation prompted by a tip-off, a government official said. After receiving information that the kidnappers were about to relocate the six men and seven women, the military reportedly launched an operation at a camp near Chigulu village in the Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna state. Following a gun battle, “the bandits” fled into the nearby forest and abandoned their captives, Kaduna’s security commissioner Samuel Aruwan added in a statement. MORE KIDNAPPINGS The operation at the camp also led to the discovery of weapons, ammunition, solar panels, and cash, officials said. Kidnappings in northern Nigeria, particularly in schools and on highways, have become frequent as criminal gangs seek ransom payments. Abductions often force families to sell land cattle and grain to secure the release of their loved ones. Christians are among those targeted as bandits increasingly cooperate with Islamic groups seeking to establish shariah (Islamic) law and other Muslim fighters, according to experts. “A synergy between armed bandits and jihadists would lead to more civilian deaths, displacement, and destruction of property,” warned Folahanmi Aina, an international security and development policy expert. “It could attract more foreign terrorist fighters, too, given Nigeria’s porous borders, who would be keen on recruiting combat-ready terrorists for armed conflict across the Lake Chad Basin and Sahel regions,” he wrote in an assessment for King’s College London obtained by Worthy News. “This also has serious implications for external state actors such as the United States, France, and the European Union in the long run. That’s because the activities of terrorists in the region could jeopardize their economic interests.” GOVERNMENT ROLE To avert this, “the federal government of Nigeria must act fast. It must intensify covert action to disrupt the potential consolidation of partnerships between armed bandits and jihadist groups,” he added. The advice comes as more believers are killed for their faith in Nigeria each year than everywhere else in the world combined, according to researchers. Last year alone, more than 8,000 Christians were killed, the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has said. “Christians in Nigeria, particularly in the Muslim-majority north, continue to live under immense pressure and to be terrorized with devastating impunity by Islamic militants and armed “bandits,” confirmed advocacy group Open Doors. Nigeria ranks 6th on the Open Doors annual World Watch List of 50 nations where it says Christians suffer most for their faith in Christ. “The attacks are often brutal in nature and can involve destruction of properties, abductions for ransom, sexual violence, and death. Believers are stripped of their livelihoods and driven from their homes, leaving a trail of grief and trauma,” Open Doors added. Violence by Islamic extremist groups such as Fulani militants, Boko Haram, and ISWAP (Islamic State in West African Province) increased during the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari, Christians said. That has been “putting Nigeria at the epicenter of targeted violence against the church. The government’s failure to protect Christians and punish perpetrators has only strengthened the militants’ influence,” Open Doors warned. Sunday’s attacks against churches underscored that trend in Africa’s most populous nation of some 230 million people. The post Nigeria ‘Bandits’ Attack Churches Killing 3; Dozens Abducted appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

(Worthy News) – Pope Francis has come under fire from US Christian leaders after telling a group of young people in Singapore last week that “all religions are a path to God,” the Christian Post (CP) reports. The pontiff made his statement while addressing an interreligious meeting at a Catholic junior college last week, at the end of an 11-day visit to Asia, CP reports. “If you start to fight, ‘my religion is more important than yours, mine is true and yours isn’t,’ where will that lead us?” the pope asked, according to Crux Now. “There’s only one God, and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Some are Sheik, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and they are different paths [to God].” “For interreligious dialogue among young people, it takes courage, because youth is the time of courage in our lives,” Francis added. “Since God is God for all, then we are all children of God,” he said. The remarks triggered an outcry in the US as well as around the world. Among those who responded with a rebuke, Bishop Joseph Strickland, who formerly oversaw the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tyler, Texas, said in a statement on X: “Please pray for Pope Francis to clearly state that Jesus Christ is the only Way. To deny this is to deny Him. If we deny Christ, He will deny us, He cannot deny Himself.” In another critical response noted by CP, Fr. Calvin Robinson who leads a church in Michigan, said on X: “This is a counter-scriptural statement from Pope Francis. The Scriptures teach us the opposite. The gate to [H]eaven is narrow.” The post “All Religions are a Path to God,” Pope Francis Tells Young People appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – At least hundreds of members of Hezbollah have been injured in southern Lebanon and the Lebanese capital, Beirut, after the handheld pagers they used to communicate exploded, Israeli and Arab sources say. Some reports say more than 1,200 people were injured in the attack, including the Hezbollah supporters. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Israel has vowed to crack down on Hezbollah, which has fired a barrage of rockets into the Jewish nation, forcing thousands to evacuate. On Monday, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said the only way to return Israel’s northern residents was through “military action” during a meeting with US envoy Amos Hochstein. The events come hours after Israel’s security cabinet made the safe return of 60,000 residents displaced in the north by Hezbollah attacks an official war goal. “The possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas and refuses to end the conflict,” a statement from his office said. “The security cabinet has updated the objectives of the war to include the following: Returning the residents of the north securely to their homes,” the prime minister’s office said. “Israel will continue to act to implement this objective.” ESCALATING TENSIONS Those tensions escalated Tuesday with witnesses seeing known Hezbollah members bleeding. Lebanon’s state news agency said there were blasts in the southern suburbs of Beirut and several other areas. Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV network also said many pagers had exploded without identifying those hurt. Footage showed wounded men sitting or lying on floors and others being rushed to hospitals. There were also pictures of blasts in shops. Hezbollah said it constituted the “biggest security breach yet” since hostilities with Israel escalated 11 months ago in parallel with the Gaza war. That war was triggered by Hezbollah’s ally Hamas attacking Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250 others. Hamas-linked authorities claim Israel’s military has since killed more than 41,000 Palestinians without differentiating between combatants and civilians. Israel’s government says nearly half of those killed are Hamas fighters. The post ‘Hundreds of Hezbollah Members Injured After Handheld Pagers Explode’ appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent (Worthy News) – While still fighting Hamas in Gaza, Israel has told the United States that, contrary to what the Biden administration believes, an all-out war against Hezbollah in Lebanon may be necessary to ensure tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from northern Israel can return to their homes, the Jerusalem Post reports. Some 60,000 Israelis living close to the border with Lebanon have been evacuated since the Lebanese Hezbollah terror group began firing thousands of missiles at northern Israeli towns in solidarity with Hamas following the October 7 attack on Israel. According to a statement issued by the PM’s office on Monday, Netanyahu told US special envoy Amos Hochstein, who visited Israel on Sunday to try and ensure a diplomatic resolution to Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah, that: “Israel appreciates and respects the support of the United States but, in the end, will do what is necessary to maintain its security and return the residents of the North to their homes safely. “ It will not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in the security situation in the North,” Netanyahu said. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is reported to have added at the same meeting with Hochstein: “The only way left to return the residents of the North to their homes is via military action.” The United States does not want to see a full war between Israel and Hezbollah and is seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis, JPost reports. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller explained in a statement that: “We have long made clear that we believe a diplomatic solution is the correct way, the only way, to bring calm to the north of Israel and allow Israeli citizens to return to their homes.” The post Netanyahu: All-out War With Hezbollah May Be Necessary to Secure Return of Northern Israeli Evacuees appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent (Worthy News) – The city of Shanghai in China on Monday was struck by the most powerful typhoon it has experienced since 1949, with hundreds of thousands of people having had to evacuate their homes, the Associated Press reports. A typhoon is a rapidly rotating tropical storm system that produces hurricane-force winds and torrential rain. While the Phillippines tend to see most typhoons hit landfall, China has suffered some of the deadliest typhoons in history. Typhoon Bebinca made landfall in the Pudong business district of Shanghai at around 7:30 a.m. local time. It had winds of 151 kph (94 mph) near its center, AP reports. Over 414,000 of Shanghai’s 25 million residents had been evacuated ahead of the typhoon, and schools were closed. Residents were advised to stay indoors. Torrential rains caused flooding, and power outages ensued amid uprooted trees and damage to houses. At least 53 hectares (132 acres) of farmland were flooded, AP said. “Flights, ferries, and train services have been suspended in the megacity and in neighboring provinces, disrupting travel during China’s three-day Mid-Autumn Festival,” AP said in its report. “Shanghai’s airports canceled more than 1,400 flights, while in Hangzhou, about 170 kilometers (106 miles) southwest of Shanghai, authorities also canceled more than 180 flights,” AP said. Up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) of rainfall are expected in the area between Monday and Wednesday, AP said. The post China: Shanghai Hit With Most Powerful Typhoon in 75 Years appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square contributor (Worthy News) – Border Patrol officials say foreign nationals who illegally cross the border aren’t being vetted prior to being released into the country. At a press conference in Houston Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas’ plan to target and arrest members of a violent Venezuelan prison gang, Tren De Aragua, who illegally entered the country. “I will not allow them to use Texas as a base of operations to terrorize our citizens,” he said. Joining Abbott was National Border Patrol Council Vice President Chris Cabrera, who said, “As a federal agent, we have no way of vetting these people other than the honor system. If they tell us they’re from so and so and this is their name and we can’t check against Venezuela’s database, that they’re not going to give us access to it, so we have to let them go,” he said, referring to releasing them into the U.S. “Unfortunately, we do let them go.” When it comes to processing people for removal, he said, “In the off chance, we’re going to deport them, Venezuela won’t take them back.” Instead of requiring them to, as was the case in the Trump administration, he said, “Our government on the federal level is kind of weak-minded. We just go ahead and say, ‘OK, well, you know, go ahead and stay here.’” The level of violence Americans are experiencing at the hands of criminal Venezuelans is “an infestation,” he said. “It’s taking hold not just in Colorado or New York, but in Michigan, Florida, Texas, you name it. “What people fail to realize is working on the border, we see everything come through, but it doesn’t affect us as much as it affects the rest of the United States, especially Houston. Everything that comes through our area just passes through and it ends up as your problem or a problem somewhere up north. If people don’t wake up and see it for what it is, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble in this country.” The National Border Patrol Council has endorsed former President Donald Trump. Its union leaders credit Trump with improving border security and the current administration for obliterating it. Cabrera has testified before Congress about the toll of Biden-Harris policies on agents, including 17 who committed suicide in one year. Retired Border Patrol supervisory agent and now Texas Border Czar Mike Banks said, “The TDA problem in Texas and the rest of the United States is a direct result of open border policies. The Biden Harris administration has sent out an ‘all call’ to the world that you can cross this border without any consequences.” “It is a known fact that the Venezuelan government has released prisoners” with the condition that they don’t come back. “When they show up here, there’s no surprise that we have a criminal illegal gang problem in the United States,” he said. The Biden administration maintains all illegal border crossers are being vetted. “That is an absolute lie,” Banks said, “because they cannot vet them against their criminal history in Venezuela because Venezuela refuses to share that information with us.” No criminal database exists to capture TDA gang member data and arrests. Texas Department of Public Safety is creating one, Abbott said. Texas Public Policy Foundation fellow and former Border Patrol agent Ammon Blair told The Center Square that because of the volume of illegal border crossers, there isn’t enough time for an individual agent to properly vet anyone. Not all agents are trained to identify false identification and some just “want to get them out of the field as fast as possible,” he said. “That’s priority number one is getting them into the intake system, putting them on the bus and moving them out. “There really is no vetting. The only vetting is asking them, ‘What country are you from? What is your name? How old are you? Are you a family member?’” If they have a criminal history, it may pop up if it’s connected to their ID, or fake ID, he said. But many have no ID so they have to take them at their word for who they say they are. “They just tell us, and we have to accept that as truth,” he said. Agents also no longer ask if they are seeking asylum or making a claim of credible fear, he said. After a foreign national illegally crosses the border, agents “immediately just get their biographical information however best we can.” They input their information and scan passports if they have them, he said. For those with no IDs, they input biometric data, including fingerprints. “That’s the only vetting we do.” Under the Trump administration, he said, “we heavily scrutinized. The process was completely different. We adhered more towards the immigration law than we do now.” Since fiscal 2021 through July, illegal border crossers from Venezuela total nearly 856,000, the greatest number in U.S. history, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. Another 115,000 Venezuelans were granted parole through a program that’s been directly linked to perpetrators committing violent crimes against Americans, including TDA gang members, who are being arrested nationwide, The Center Square reported. In Texas, law enforcement officials have arrested more than 3,000 Venezuelan illegal border crossers; more than 200 are wanted, Abbott said. Reprinted with permission from The Center Square. The post Border Patrol Officials: Violent Criminals Being Released Into US Aren’t Being Vetted appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – The suspect in an “attempted assassination” against former U.S. president Donald Trump was 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, a Democratic supporter who was charged with federal gun crimes, U.S. law enforcement officials said Monday. Routh’s court appearance and announced charges followed Sunday’s incident near Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said that the suspect had numerous previous felony charges and was also the subject of a 2019 tip concerning his possession of firearms. The U.S. Secret Service confirmed that Routh did not fire any shots at Trump and that the Republican presidential candidate was not in his line of sight. Investigators said, however, that he had been near the golf course for 12 long hours before being spotted by the Secret Service. It raised questions about security measures surrounding Trump, who survived another assassination while speaking at an open-air campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, in July. However, Ronald Rowe Jr, acting director of the Secret Service, said that once an agent detected Routh armed with a rifle, “he discharged his firearm” before the suspect fled. CLOSE PROTECTION “He did not fire or get off any shots at our agent,” Rowe stressed. “With reports of gunfire, the former president’s close protection detail immediately evacuated the president to a safe location.” Rowe also told reporters that Trump was “out of sight of the gunman” during his unscheduled visit to the golf club. “The protective methodologies of the Secret Service were effective yesterday,” Rowe added. U.S. President Joe Biden backed the Secret Service and said that there was “no place for political violence” in the United States. Yet Trump quickly blamed Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s “rhetoric” for the attack. According to Federal Election Commission records, Routh previously made a series of donations to Democratic presidential candidates in the 2020 elections. The documents show that Routh donated to campaigns supporting Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Yang, Tulsi Gabbard, Beto O’Rourke, and Tom Steyer. The records showed that the donations, which did not exceed $25, were made between September 2019 and March 2020. The post Suspect Trump Assassination Attempt Was Democratic Supporter appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – The Arab world was anticipating a broader regional conflict Monday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would inflict a “heavy price” on the Iran-aligned Houthis who control northern Yemen after they reached central Israel with a missile on Sunday for the first time. At the same time, more than a dozen people were reportedly killed in Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the group struck with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that traveled 2,040 km (1270 miles) in just 11 1/2 minutes. An Israeli military official said an interceptor hit the missile and fragmented in the air rather than being completely destroyed. It came while overnight in Gaza, rescuers and medics said Israeli air strikes killed at least 18 people across the Palestinian territory overnight and on Monday morning, including 10 in one attack on a house. The 10 were killed, and 15 others were reportedly injured when Israel’s military hit the home of the al-Qassas family in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, said a medic at Al-Awda hospital, where the bodies were brought. Hamas-linked authorities also claimed that six Palestinians were killed in a similar air strike overnight on a house belonging to the Bassal family in Gaza City’s Zeitun neighborhood. Additionally, two people were said to have died in another overnight air strike in Rafah that targeted a house belonging to the Abu Shaar family. It was not clear what role Hamas played in the published death toll. Hamas controls the health ministry, and its death toll figures have been disputed. The post Israel To Retaliate After Houthis Missile Reach Central Israel; Gaza Clashes Escalate appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent (Worthy News) – While Israel now controversially asserts it must occupy the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons through it from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Egypt is reportedly in favor of deploying international Arab peacekeeping troops along this narrow stretch of land that runs alongside its border with Palestinian enclave, i24News reports. The Philadelphi Corrider is of logistical importance as it incorporates the key Rafah border crossing which allowed some movement of Palestinians and the entry of essential humanitarian aid amid the military blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel and Egypt: imposed in 2007, the stated aim of the blockade was to prevent weapons being smuggled to Hamas. Control of the Philadelphi Corridor has recently become a major sticking point in negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas. According to a report in the Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Arab language news outlet on Thursday (September 12), Egypt is considering a solution whereby neither Israel nor Hamas controls the Corridor but international Arab forces are deployed to monitor it. Moreover, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Mauritania, and Djibouti are reportedly discussing the possibility of deploying troops as peacekeeping forces along the Netzarim Corridor which runs down the middle of Gaza from north to south, i24News said. The post Egypt Favors Arab International Peacekeeping Force Along Philadelphi Corridor, Report appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent (Worthy News) – The UK and the US are reported to be concerned that Russia shared nuclear secrets with Iran in exchange for ballistic missiles to use against Ukraine in the ongoing invasion, the Independent UK reports. During a summit in Washington on Friday (September 13), Britain’s Prime minister Keir Starmer and US president Joe Biden specifically discussed the increased military cooperation between Iran and Russia. Citing British official sources, The Times UK reported that the US and Britain have received as yet unconfirmed intelligence reports of a deal that would see Moscow providing Tehran with nuclear technology. “If confirmed, such a deal would be especially alarming as Tehran is advancing its programme of uranium enrichment – a step towards developing a nuclear weapon,” the Independent noted. The United States, Britain, France and Germany claim Iran has been supplying Russia with ballistic missiles with which to attack Ukraine and, condemning Tehran’s “escalatory” action, have slapped the regime with more sanctions. “Russia is sharing technology that Iran seeks – this is a two-way street – including on nuclear issues, as well as some space information,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference in the UK with Britain’s Foreign Minister David Lammy last week. While Iran has rejected claims that it supplied Russia with missiles as “completely baseless and false,” Moscow described Tehran as an “important partner” and has not directly denied the reports, the Independent said. The post US and UK Worry Russia Is Supplying Iran With Nuclear Secrets, Report appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent (Worthy News) – Three years after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan the ruling Islamic extremist Taliban have passed an expansive new morality law that severely restricts Afghan freedoms, and targets women especially harshly. Aimed at controlling how citizens should behave in public, the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice late last month issued a 100-page law that includes prohibiting men from wearing western-style clothing – and neckties in particular. The law also “bans any representation of people in published or broadcast material, leading to concerns about how, for instance, identity documents will be used,” NPR said. The new law goes on to oppress women to an even higher degree than was notorious before. “They may not leave their homes unless it’s urgent,” NPR explained in its report. “There’s no clear definition of “urgent” and presumably, that is decided by patrolling officials from the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue, whose job it is to enforce this sweeping law. When they do venture outside their homes, they must always have a male guardian,” NPR noted. “They cannot raise their voices in public. Even if they are speaking in their home, they must not do so in a way that could be overheard by strangers. Also: No laughing. No speaking loudly. No singing. Even in private gatherings.” However, many Afghani women are refusing to accept this draconian treatment and have taken to the internet to protest – and sing, NPR reports. In one video, Fatima Etimadi, 34, sings: “The flower will unfurl, revealing a spring of freedom,” they chant. “I sing the anthem of freedom, again, again, freedom.” “Every day, the Taliban seeks new ways to restrict women,” Etimadi told NPR in an interview. “They’re making women die while they’re alive.” The post Afghanistan: Sweeping New Taliban Morality Law Targets Women Especially, “They’re Making Women Die While They’re Alive.” appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent (Worthy News) – China on Sunday released US pastor David Lin from prison after wrongfully detaining him for 18 years, Reuters reports. Ruled by the authoritarian, paranoid Chinese Communist Party (CCP), China ranks 19 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted. Now aged 68, Lin was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2006 after being convicted of fraud for helping an underground church open a meeting center in Beijing, BBC News reported. The United States maintains the charges were bogus and consecutive administrations have sought his release. Lin was finally released on September 15 after US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met China’s Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing last month to discuss, among other matters, “the cases of American citizens who are wrongfully detained or subject to exit bans in China,” a White House readout of the meeting said. In a statement following Lin’s release, the US State Department said: “We welcome David Lin’s release from prison in the People’s Republic of China. He has returned to the United States and now gets to see his family for the first time in nearly 20 years.” Lin’s daughter Alice told the Politico news outlet: “No words can express the joy we have — we have a lot of time to make up for.” Two other US citizens, Mark Swidan and Kai Li, remain imprisoned in China on charges the State Department says are bogus. Mark Swidan faces the death penalty for alleged drug trafficking. The post China Releases US Pastor After Wrongfully Imprisoning Him For 18 Years appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Brett Rowland | The Center Square (Worthy News) – Cryptocurrency scams and fraud in 2023 contributed to an estimated $5.6 billion in losses, a report from one of the federal government’s top law enforcement agencies says. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cryptocurrency Fraud Report for 2023 found that the vast majority of losses – about $3.9 million – were related to cryptocurrency investment scams. “The decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, the speed of irreversible transactions, and the ability to transfer value around the world make cryptocurrency an attractive vehicle for criminals, while creating challenges to recover stolen funds,” FBI Assistant Director Michael Nordwall wrote in the bureau’s latest report. “Once an individual sends a payment, the recipient owns the cryptocurrency and often quickly transfers it into an account overseas for cash out purposes. Rapid and accurate complaint reporting are key to assisting law enforcement in investigating fraud schemes that exploit cryptocurrencies.” Estimated losses have grown significantly since before the recession and were up 45% in 2023 compared to the year before, according to the FBI report. “As the use of cryptocurrencies grows in popularity for investors, criminals are deploying increasingly complex tactics to deceive and exploit the public,” said Wayne Jacobs, special agent in charge of FBI Philadelphia. “We urge consumers to stay vigilant when navigating this landscape and to report any suspected fraud to the FBI through the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.” Losses from cryptocurrency-related investment fraud schemes reported to the IC3 rose from $2.57 billion in 2022 to $3.96 billion in 2023, an increase of 53%, according to the FBI. Some people accumulated massive debt to cover losses from these fraudulent investments. While individuals ages 30-39 and 40-49 filed the most cryptocurrency-investment fraud complaints (about 5,200 reports in each age group), complainants over 60 reported the highest losses (more than $1.24 billion), according to the report. Reprinted with permission from The Center Square. The post FBI Report Estimates $5.6B in Cryptocurrency Fraud Losses appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square contributor (Worthy News) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday declared the Venezuelan gang, Tren De Aragua (TDA) as a foreign terrorist organization. Texas Department of Public Safety is aggressively targeting gang members who were released into country by Biden administration, he said. “I will not allow them to use Texas as a base of operations to terrorize our citizens,” Abbott said at a news conference in Houston. “Texas is a law and order state and I will ensure that law enforcement has every tool they need to keep our community safe.” Tren De Aragua is characterized as “MS13 on steroids,” Abbott said, referring to a violent El Salvadoran gang. It’s “the largest criminal organization in Venezuela … that has now expanded to a transnational criminal organization … dominating the international flow of migrants from South America through Mexico into the United States.” They are known for brutal violence, murder, kidnapping, extortion, bribery and human and drug trafficking, Abbott said, linked to more than 100 law enforcement investigations nationwide. TDA gang members were “involved in the brutal attack and assault” of New York Police Department officers, the murder of Georgia medical student Laken Riley, and many others, he said. “In other countries infiltrated by TDA, history has shown they first flood the countries with military age Venezuelan men. Next, they begin to establish a base of operations. Finally, TDA begins a spree of violent and bloody criminal activity. We’ve now seen the beginnings of these operations in the state of Texas.” Abbott said wouldn’t allow that to happen under his watch and officially declared TDA a foreign terrorist organization. “We will bring the full weight of the government against the TDA,” he said. “The designation will enable Texas courts to halt their operations using civil asset forfeiture, take their property, and use enhanced criminal penalties to keep them in jail behind bars for longer periods of time.” Texas DPS has launched a statewide operation to target TDA gang members, elevated it to a Tier 1 gang, the most violent, and is developing a database to track gang members, characterizations, and arrests. No such database currently exists at the local, state or federal level. “TDA gangsters are like cockroaches,” Texas DPS Commander Steve McCraw said. “They multiply quickly, small intrusions into communities become infestations if not aggressively pursued. These Venezuelan thugs … are highly combative. They’re violent, they’re certainly adaptable and they always are involved in criminal activities that first start with human smuggling … of migrants.” They’re involved in extortion, kidnappings, rape, assaults, and sex trafficking, he said. “Once they’re in place, they expand their criminal operations … pushing out other criminal gangs operating in that area.” McCraw said Texas anti-gang centers already have ongoing criminal enterprise investigations against TDA. They are also asking federal partners to share information on the whereabouts of Venezuelan migrants. “That’s very important, because unfortunately, you’re either a TDA member or a victim of TDA. This information would be extremely helpful in identifying additional TDA members and their victims.” He also said that some may “find it harsh using the terms ‘infestation’ and ‘cockroaches.’ But all you have to do is interview or spend some time with some victims … and you’ll understand” how dangerous they are. Abbott made the announcement after a judge ordered that a hotel in El Paso be shut down after it allegedly harbored violent illegal border crossers, including TDA gang members. Texas DPS special agents were involved with arrests as well as arresting 100 suspected TDA gang members involved in El Paso riots, Abbott said. The U.S. Department of State has designated the gang, which began in the Tocorón Prison in Aragua, Venezuela, as a transnational criminal organization. It’s offering up to $12 million in rewards for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of its leaders who are believed to be in Columbia and Venezuela. TDA gang members have recently become entrenched in major cities nationwide, Abbott and other law enforcement officials argue, because after illegally entering the country, they were released into the U.S. because of Biden administration policies. Since fiscal 2021 through July, they total nearly 856,000, the greatest number in U.S. history. Another 115,000 Venezuelans were granted parole through a program created by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The overwhelming majority are single military age adults, according to CBP data. The parole program has been directly linked to perpetrators committing violent crimes against Americans, including TDA gang members, who are being arrested nationwide, The Center Square reported. In Texas, law enforcement officials have arrested more than 3,000 Venezuelan illegal border crossers; more than 200 are wanted, Abbott said. Reprinted with permission from The Center Square. The post Abbott Declares Venezuelan Gang a Foreign Terrorist Organization, DPS Targeting appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Central and Eastern Europe’s death toll climbed to at least 14 on Monday as Storm Boris, accompanied by heavy rainfall and related flooding, ravaged the region. Romania and Poland were among the heaviest-hit nations. https://www.worthynews.com/wordpressimages/2024/09/WorthyNewsRadioSep16.mp3 Across Central and Eastern Europe, rescue workers have been searching for survivors as extreme weather knocked out power and destroyed homes and dams while killing more than a dozen people. Authorities said Monday that some communities were cut off four days into the disaster. Since Friday, high winds and unusually heavy rainfall have hit regions in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. In the Czech Republic, where some 119,000 households, mainly in the northeast, are without electricity, authorities desperately try to save lives amid heavy flooding. Stranded residents are rescued by helicopter. Similar scenes were seen in Poland, where scores of patients in a hospital in the southwestern town of Nysa are among the thousands being rushed to safety, though one doctor passed away there. WATER RISING And water levels keep rising in the Czech Republic, where many still remember the dozens who died in previous flooding. Despite rescue efforts, numerous people remain missing, and people have also drowned in Austria, Poland, and Romania. “It destroyed everything. I don’t have anything left,” an elderly Romanian woman said in an already impoverished area. “The beds are filled with mud, the pillows are filled. I have nowhere to sleep. There is nothing, nothing, nothing,” she added. In the northwest of neighboring Hungary, the government deployed more than 350 soldiers to reinforce flood barriers as the Danube and rivers along its way are expected to surge, including in the capital, Budapest. There is debate about what caused the impact of flooding on populations in central and eastern Europe. Several scientists blame climate change, while other experts also blame extensive construction near rivers and a lack of adequate water management for the unfolding drama. The post Death Toll Rises As Storm Boris Hits Europe (Worthy News Radio) appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

Friend, face your giants with new eyes! Romans 8:31-32 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? When Moses sent out the 12 spies to report on the condition of the land of “milk and honey”, ten of the spies brought back a bad report. They focused on the giants, and the great obstacles in their way. They walked with eyes set on the physical realm and said within themselves, “We are but grasshoppers in the sight of these giants!” [Numbers 13:28-33] However, Joshua and Caleb came back with a different perspective. They didn’t ignore the giants or the obstacles or pretend they didn’t exist, but rather focused on their God who had performed miracles upon miracles, from the series of ten plagues to the parting of the Red Sea, to the miracle of “daily bread” – manna from heaven! Giants, however large or dangerous they might be, would not prevent Israel from taking the land – at least not in the faith-filled opinion of Joshua or Caleb. If the God who had disarmed Pharaoh was for them, it was His enemies who should be trembling. So it is with us! If there are “giants” everywhere – “fortified” strongholds – the enemy would love for us to focus on how insignificant and powerless we appear to be, but don't we also have God's miracles to look back on? Salvation from our sins, to begin with...But how many times has the Lord answered your prayers since then? We need more than ever to remember His grace and intervention in our lives. Those memories will inspire the faith to face the current giants and their apparent threats. Friend, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” It's not an idle word or an empty epithet. Our God really is a giant slayer. We only need to remember what He has done before to maintain faith in what He can and will do now. Your family in the Lord with much agape love, George, Baht Rivka, Obadiah and Elianna (Missouri) (Baltimore, Maryland) Editor's Note: Feel free to share any of our content from Worthy, including Devotions, News articles, and more, on your social platforms. You have full permission to copy and repost anything we produce. Editor's Note: During this war, we have been live blogging throughout the day -- sometimes minute by minute on our Telegram channel. Be sure to check it out! Editor's Note: Dear friends — we are now booking in the following states. Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida! If you know Rabbis, Pastors or Leaders who might be interested in powerful Israeli style Hebrew/English worship and a refreshing word from Worthy News about what’s going on in the land, please let us know how to connect with them and we will do our best to get you on our schedule! You can send an email to george [ @ ] worthyministries.com for more information. Around the World US and UK Worry Russia Is Supplying Iran With Nuclear Secrets, Report The UK and the US are reported to be concerned that Russia shared nuclear secrets with Iran in exchange for ballistic missiles to use against Ukraine in the ongoing invasion, the Independent UK reports. During a summit in Washington on Friday (September 13), Britain’s Prime minister Keir Starmer and US president Joe Biden specifically discussed the increased military cooperation between Iran and Russia. Afghanistan: Sweeping New Taliban Morality Law Targets Women Especially, “They’re Making Women Die While They’re Alive.” Three years after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan the ruling Islamic extremist Taliban have passed an expansive new morality law that severely restricts Afghan freedoms, and targets women especially harshly. Death Toll Rises As Storm Boris Hits Europe (Worthy News Radio) Central and Eastern Europe's death toll climbed to at least 14 on Monday as Storm Boris, accompanied by heavy rainfall and related flooding, ravaged the region. Romania and Poland were among the heaviest-hit nations. Israel-Palestinian Conflict Israel To Retaliate After Houthis Missile Reach Central Israel; Gaza Clashes Escalate The Arab world was anticipating a broader regional conflict Monday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would inflict a "heavy price" on the Iran-aligned Houthis who control northern Yemen after they reached central Israel with a missile on Sunday for the first time. Egypt Favors Arab International Peacekeeping Force Along Philadelphi Corridor, Report While Israel now controversially asserts it must occupy the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons through it from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Egypt is reportedly in favor of deploying international Arab peacekeeping troops along this narrow stretch of land that runs alongside its border with Palestinian enclave, i24News reports. Inside the United States Suspect Trump Assassination Attempt Was Democratic Supporter The suspect in an “attempted assassination” against former U.S. president Donald Trump was 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, a Democratic supporter who was charged with federal gun crimes, U.S. law enforcement officials said Monday. FBI Report Estimates $5.6B in Cryptocurrency Fraud Losses Cryptocurrency scams and fraud in 2023 contributed to an estimated $5.6 billion in losses, a report from one of the federal government's top law enforcement agencies says. Abbott Declares Venezuelan Gang a Foreign Terrorist Organization, DPS Targeting Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday declared the Venezuelan gang, Tren De Aragua (TDA) as a foreign terrorist organization. Texas Department of Public Safety is aggressively targeting gang members who were released into country by Biden administration, he said. Christian News China Releases US Pastor After Wrongfully Imprisoning Him For 18 Years China on Sunday released US pastor David Lin from prison after wrongfully detaining him for 18 years, Reuters reports. Ruled by the authoritarian, paranoid Chinese Communist Party (CCP), China ranks 19 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted. View the full article

By Dan McCaleb | The Center Square (Worthy News) – U.S. Secret Service agents shot at and later arrested a man with an AK-47 rifle near Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach, Fla., golf club Sunday afternoon while Trump was on the course. The FBI said it is investigating the incident as an attempted assassination of the former president, the second in two months. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference that the Secret Service alerted local authorities that shots were fired about 1:30 p.m. Sunday. A Secret Service agent who was monitoring the course a hole ahead of Trump noticed a man with a rifle pointing the barrel through a chain-link fence near shrubbery that surrounds the course, Bradshaw said. The agent fired on the alleged gunman, who was approximately 300 to 500 yards away from the former president. Trump, the Republican nominee for president, was rushed back to the clubhouse in a golf cart and was unharmed. A witness told authorities he saw the gunman running from the scene to a car, and was able to get the car’s license plate, Bradshaw said. Agents were able to track the vehicle and arrested the suspect, Bradshaw said. He remains in custody. No other details were released about the suspect. “Fortunately, we were able to locate a witness that came to us and said, ‘Hey, I saw the guy running out of the bushes. He jumped into a black Nissan, and I took a picture of the vehicle and the tank,’ which was great,” the sheriff said. “So we had that information, … put it out to the license plate readers, and we were able to get a hit on that vehicle on I-95 as it was headed into Martin County. We got a hold of Martin County Sheriff’s Office, alerted them, and they spotted the vehicle and pulled it over and detained the guy.” Authorities found the rifle, a scope, two backpacks and a GoPro camera in the bushes where the gunman was hiding. “The FBI has assumed the role as the lead federal law enforcement agency in the investigation of the incident that occurred earlier today at Trump International Golf course here in West Palm Beach, Florida,” Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI Miami field office, said at the news conference. “We’ve deployed a number of resources, including investigative teams, crisis response team members, bomb technicians and evidence response team members as well.” Trump told Fox News that he was on the 5th hole when he heard gunshots. “Tell everybody I am fine and the Secret Service did a great job,” Trump told Fox News. Bradshaw said that if Trump were a sitting president, there would have been more security around the perimeter of the golf course Sunday’s incident occurred two months after Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. Trump was grazed by a bullet in his ear in the Pennsylvania shooting just two days before the start of the Republican National Convention. The suspect in the earlier assassination attempt was shot and killed at the scene. The Secret Service was widely criticized for its lax security efforts after the Pennsylvania attempt. Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the U.S. Secret Service, resigned under heavy pressure. This is a developing story. The post FBI: 2nd Assassination Attempt on Donald Trump’s Life Thwarted, Gunman Arrested appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News WEST PALM BEACH (Worthy News) – Former U.S. President Donald J. Trump was safe after “multiple shots” were fired near his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, several sources say. The shots reportedly originated outside the course fence line. U.S. Secret Service agents then opened fire after seeing a person with a firearm near Trump’s golf club, according to sources with close knowledge about the situation. No injuries were reported. It was the second time a gunman tried to kill the 45th president in two months. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw told reporters the suspect had taken cover near a chain-link fence between 300-500 yards (274-457 meters) away from Trump. He conceded, “With a rifle and scope like that, it is not a long distance.” The motive of the alleged gunman was not immediately clear. The post Shots Fired At Former President Trump’s Golf Course appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Chris Woodward | The Center Square contributor (Worthy News) – A faith-based event encouraging Hispanics to get out and vote is coming to Las Vegas. Scheduled for Sept. 21, the event was organized by Job Creators Network and its Hispanic Vote Coalition. In a press release, Mary Thomas, executive director of the Hispanic Vote Coalition, said that Hispanics can no longer sit on the sidelines “while our values and the very foundation of our economic freedoms are under attack” in America. “High taxes, continued high inflation, and a sinking economy are hurting Hispanics in America,” said Thomas. “We are engaged in a spiritual battle, as well as a battle to save the American Dream, and the Hispanic community must seize their constitutional duty as citizens, Christians, and hardworking Americans to vote in this election.” Members of the Hispanic Vote Coalition include the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, former Representative Tim Huelskamp, R-Kansas, and media strategist Rigel Strategies. More than 30% of Nevada’s population identified as Hispanic in 2022. That was up from 18.7% in 2020. Both figures are from Census data. “Today more than ever, Hispanics have the opportunity to change the course of the history of this country that has been a blessing, refuge and opportunity for us and our generations,” said Pastor Camilo Perez, Senior Pastor at Strong Tower Christian Center in a press release. “The time has come to raise our voice in the right way, without violence and without breaking the law, but rather voting in favor of our family and Biblical principles and values ​​that characterize us.” Organizers have also created the website, VotamosValores.com, for more information. It is available in Spanish and English. Votamos Volares is Spanish for We Vote For Values. The post Faith-based voter effort to court Hispanic Nevadans appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News KYIV/MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Russia and Ukraine say they have exchanged 206 prisoners of war in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates. The weekend exchange was welcomed by Ukraine’s embattled president, whose forces have struggled to halt the ongoing Russian invasion of his nation. https://www.worthynews.com/wordpressimages/2024/09/WorthyNewsRadioSep15.mp3 As they stepped out of a bus released Ukrainian prisoners of war celebrated their return near the Ukraine-Belarus border. The release primarily concerned soldiers — including 23 women — captured around the siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in 2022. The next day, Moscow and Kyiv swapped 103 prisoners of war, each in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates. “At home thank you we are at home. It were 846 days of hell. Glory to Ukraine, glory to the heroes,” said Igor Titovsky, an Azov brigade fighter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared in his joy, saying, “Our people are home.” The Russian Ministry of Defense said its 103 released servicemen came from among those captured by Ukrainian forces when they entered Russia’s Kursk area. SURPRISE ATTACK Last month, Ukrainian forces launched a surprise attack across the Russian border, advancing up to 30 kilometers (18 miles) into the Kursk region. President Zelenskyy said the freed Ukrainians included 82 privates and sergeants and 21 officers from the armed forces, national guard, border guards, and police. He stressed that they had been captured defending the regions of Kyiv, Donetsk, Mariupol, Azovstal, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv. Russia announced that its released soldiers were in Belarus and would be given the “necessary psychological and medical assistance.” Moscow also announced they would be allowed to contact their relatives before being returned to Russia. The deal was mediated by the United Arab Emirates, which has remained broadly neutral since Russia triggered the armed conflict by invading Ukraine in February 2022. It was also a small joy in a war that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people. The post Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners In UAE Mediated Deal (Worthy News Radio) appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News KINSHASA (Worthy News) – Dozens of people, including Americans, faced a tense Sunday after a military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) handed down death sentences to them over an alleged coup attempt. Some 37 suspects, including three Americans as well as a Briton, a Belgian, and a Canadian national, were sentenced for trying to overthrow the African nation’s president, trial observers said. The men were accused of leading an attack on both the presidential palace and the home of an ally of President Félix Tshisekedi in May. Christian Malanga, a U.S. national of Congolese origin, the suspected leader of the plot, was killed during the attack, along with five others. In total, 51 people were tried in a military court, and hearings were broadcast on national TV and radio. Malanga’s son Marcel, one of the US citizens sentenced to death, previously told the court that his father had threatened to kill him unless he took part. His friend, Tyler Thompson, was also given the death penalty. The pair, aged in their 20s, had played football together in Utah. His stepmother Miranda Thompson, in June, told broadcaster BBC the family had “zero idea” how he had ended up in the DRC, Africa’s second largest country of 109 million people. “We were in complete shock as to what was happening and the unknown. Everything we were learning was what we were getting off [news site] Google,” she said. THIRD AMERICAN The third American, Benjamin Zalman-Polun, had reportedly business interests with Christian Malanga. Also sentenced to death was Jean-Jacques Wondo, a dual Congolese and Belgian citizen. The advocacy group Human Rights Watch previously described him as a prominent researcher on regional politics and security and suggested that the evidence connecting him to the coup attempt was thin. The British and Canadian nationals were reportedly of Congolese origin. The court heard the British national, Youssouf Ezangi, had helped recruit some of the others who took part. Of the 51 tried, 14 people were acquitted and freed, with the court finding they had no connection to the attack. Those convicted had five days to appeal against their sentences and were believed to weigh their options on Sunday. Their troubles came as thousands of miles away, the United States rejected allegations that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in an alleged assassination plot against Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro in another coup case. Venezuelan officials announced the arrest of three Americans, two Spaniards, and a Czech on Saturday over claims of a plot against Maduro – the Venezuelan president, whose recent re-election is contested. The post DRC Sentences Dozens To Death Over Coup appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Hungary braced on Sunday for the Danube River, Europe’s main waterway, to reach record levels as massive rainfall caused deadly flooding across Central and Eastern Europe, damaging homes and leaving many without power. The difficulties came after at least five people died and thousands of homes were damaged by flooding in neighboring Romania’s eastern region on Saturday, officials said. A firefighter also died during a flood rescue in Austria, and one person drowned in Poland as torrential rain caused by Storm Boris continued to wreak havoc across Central and Eastern Europe, authorities said. The Austrian province surrounding the capital, Vienna, has been declared a disaster area, and its leaders have described “an unprecedented extreme situation.” Surging river levels also put authorities on alert elsewhere in the region, including in Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, where some 50 people died in flooding in 1997. Officials in Slovakia even warned of the threat of flooding in Bratislava, the country’s capital, and similar situations were expected in Budapest. The Tirol control center said that Southern Germany and parts of Austria were also struggling with German and Austrian mountain rescuers working to find a person buried by an avalanche in the northern Alps. Officials explained that the avalanche struck in the Karwendel Mountains in Austria’s state of Tirol, not far south of the German border in the Vomp municipality. SAVING LIVES Tirol’s police said the man was a member of a hiking group of around 30 people who had come from the German state of Bavaria. The rest of the group were reportedly safe and accounted for. However, others were not so lucky, with rescue workers trying to save lives as authorities expected more rainfall following summer with soaring temperatures in Central and Eastern Europe. In Romania, flooding affected eight counties, the country’s emergency unit said, and its Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu visited hard-hit Galati county, where four people were reportedly found dead, about 5,000 homes were damaged, and 25,000 were without power. Footage monitored by Worthy News showed streets flooded with muddy water, silt, and debris as rescuers led residents to safety. “The priority is obviously to save lives. At this moment, we have all the necessary logistics to intervene quickly,” Ciolacu stressed. Elsewhere, residents of several towns along the Czech-Polish border were evacuated as rivers rose past alert levels. “We are facing a critical night, full mobilization is required,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned on social media platform X. ANTI-FLOOD MEASURES Authorities announced that the Czech capital, Prague, which also suffered catastrophic floods in 2002, had implemented preventative anti-flood measures. In the Czech Republic, northern and Czech media said that northeastern areas bore the brunt of the deluge, and 51,000 households had their electricity supply cut off. Forecasters warned that some parts of the country could see more than a third of the average annual rainfall by Sunday, and Environment Minister Petr Hladik urged people in the worst-hit areas to prepare to leave their homes. In the village of Visnova, 140 kilometers (87 miles) north of Prague, resident Roman Christof told media his cottage had escaped damage because it was built on higher land. He added that others were less fortunate. “I feel sorry for the neighbors,” he said while surveying the floodwaters. Flood barriers were installed in Prague, a city of more than 1.3 million people, on the banks of the Vltava River, spanned by the picturesque 14th-century Charles Bridge. PREVENTIVE MEASURES The city heavily invested in preventive measures after the 2002 floods, which swept into the subway system and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes. Prague Zoo, located along the Vltava, was closed to visitors, and Czech Railways said services on dozens of routes were disrupted. As a precaution, a hospital evacuated patients in Brno, the country’s second-biggest city. In Glucholazy, a historic town in southwestern Poland near the Czech border, firefighters piled hundreds of sandbags alongside a swollen river and evacuated some residents. Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said weather forecasts looked unfavorable, with very heavy rainfall to fall around the Czech border area over the next 24 hours, feeding rivers into Poland. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer summarized expressed feelings in numerous impacted nations, saying: “The coming days will still be extremely difficult and challenging for the affected population and the emergency services.” He noted that several federal states in his alpine nation were affected, and the situation was deteriorating, particularly in the northeastern state of Lower Austria. As in several other countries, Austria’s emergency services worked with district governors and municipalities to prepare for evacuations. The post Several Killed As Flooding Hits Europe appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News ISLAMABAD (Worthy News) – Pakistani authorities detained a police officer who allegedly shot dead a man for “blasphemy against Islam” following the recent killing of a Christian on similar charges, Worthy News established Saturday. The fatal shooting happened Thursday inside a highly protected police station in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, a day after the victim, a Muslim, was arrested for making “derogatory remarks” about the prophet Muhammad. A senior local police officer, Muhammad Baloch, told reporters that they had arrested the policeman involved in the shooting and registered a murder case against him. He did not name the detainee. Christians told Worthy News that the blasphemy suspect, Abdul Ali, was taken into custody on Wednesday in the Kharotabad neighborhood. A mob of dozens of residents then surrounded the police detention facility and demanded that he be handed over to them so they could kill him, according to witnesses. Police officials reported the protesters also had thrown a grenade at the building, but the resulting blast did not cause any casualties. They said the violence forced them to transfer Ali to the police station in the central garrison area of Quetta, where he was fatally shot “inside the lockup by an on-duty policeman” on Thursday. FUNERAL PREVENTED Activists of a religious party later prevented Ali’s family from burying him in his hometown of Pishin, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Quetta, forcing those attempting to carry out the burial to flee the graveyard along with the body, according to sources familiar with the situation. In Islamabad, the national capital, an Islamic party senator, Abdul Shakoor Khan, while speaking in the upper house of parliament, expressed solidarity with the alleged killer. Khan vowed to help get him a lawyer for his legal battle. “We will not tolerate anyone issuing blasphemous remarks against the Holy Prophet,” Khan added. The killing of a blasphemy suspect while in custody “is unusual but highlights ongoing tensions related to religious offenses,” said advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). The group stressed that the attack added to “a troubling pattern of violence” against blasphemy suspects in Pakistan. CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas told Worthy News that while his group “expresses its deepest condolences to the family of Abdul Ali,” his death raises concerns about Pakistan’s rule of law situation. “Regardless of the accusations against him, it was the duty of the police to protect him, and thus, it is extremely worrying that he was shot and killed while in custody. Who will ensure the safety of such victims when the police itself is involved in such acts of violence?“ he stressed. SENSITIVE ISSUE Blasphemy is a highly sensitive issue in majority-Muslim Pakistan, where mere allegations have led to mobs lynching scores of suspects, even some in police custody. Insulting the Koran, deemed a holy book by Muslims, or Islamic beliefs is punishable by death under the country’s blasphemy laws, though in practice, suspects are languishing in jails, often for years. Thursday’s killing of a blasphemy suspect in custody by a police officer, however, is the first known case of its kind in Pakistan, observers said. “This attack has occurred at a time when the European Union’s special envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is on a mission to Pakistan. This incident further demonstrates the timeliness of this visit, and we call upon the EU to raise these concerns with the authorities and ensure that sufficient protections are provided to any person accused of blasphemy,” Thomas added. He said the “EU Delegation was also right to say that engagement on FoRB challenges is important for Pakistan’s future re-application to the EU’s generous tariff concession for exports from Pakistan.” The latest blasphemy violence occurred after, in early June, a 73-year-old Pakistani man from the minority Christian community died in a hospital a week after being violently attacked by a mob following blasphemy accusations in his native Sargodha district in central Punjab province. PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN “Pakistani Christian Lazar (Nazir) Masih passed away in the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Rawalpindi in Punjab Province on June 3, just over a week after he was violently attacked by an extremist mob following an accusation of blasphemy,” CSW confirmed to Worthy News. Days later, on June 20, a Muslim man from Punjab was visiting the scenic Swat Valley in the northwestern Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when a mob violently lynched him for allegedly desecrating the Koran, CSW and other sources said. Domestic and international rights groups have long sought reforms in the blasphemy laws, arguing they are often misused to settle personal vendettas or to target Pakistani minority communities. Hundreds of suspects, including Christians, are behind bars in Pakistan as fear of retaliation from extremist Islamic groups deters judges from moving their trials forward, Christians say. “The continued criminalization of blasphemy is wholly incompatible with Pakistan’s national and international commitments to freedom of religion or belief and a dangerous driver of religious extremism in the country,” CSW’s Thomas added. “The government must take strict measures to hold those responsible for such acts to account and to curb the misuse of the blasphemy laws, with the aim to repeal these laws as a matter of urgency.” The post Pakistan Detains Police Officer For Killing Blasphemy Suspect appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration demands two permanent seats for African nations in the United Nations Security Council and an elected seat for a small-island developing nation. The plan would transform the 15-member top body of the global organization, which has been essentially unchanged for decades and is mired in dysfunction and disagreements between existing permanent members. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced the proposal as part of her nearly four-year effort to give more say to countries long isolated from decision-making on world peace and security. Her announcement comes as the United Nations General Assembly prepares to convene on September 22-24. It was unclear if negotiations surrounding the reforms would be ready by the general assembly’s time. However, a senior administration official said the U.S. is prepared to pursue “text-based negotiations,” prepare amendments, and “get to work on a resolution for a vote in the general assembly to amend the U.N. Charter.” POWER LIMITS Yet Thomas-Greenfield later said Washington opposes giving veto power to the African countries holding the two permanent seats because that would make the Security Council’s work “dysfunctional.” Critics said her view showed the limits in how much power Washington wants to give to any other country. While Security Council resolutions are legally binding, targeted countries often ignore them. However, Thomas-Greenfield still believes the proposal would increase the influence of long-ignored nations. Africa has three non-permanent seats on the Security Council, but that doesn’t allow African countries “to deliver the full benefit of their knowledge and voices,” she said. “That is why, in addition to non-permanent membership for African countries, the United States supports creating two permanent African seats on the council. It’s what our African partners seek and what we believe is just.” The move also highlights the geopolitical reality nearly 80 years after the end of World War Two, with Africa increasing its political and economic clout. COLD WAR The Security Council held its first session on January 27, 1946, but its efforts were complicated by the Cold War between the West, the Soviet Union, and satellite states. Yet it authorized military interventions in several armed conflicts, and following the collapse of the Moscow-led Soviet Union, U.N. peacekeeping efforts increased. Since the early 1990s, the Security Council has authorized military and peacekeeping missions in Kuwait, Namibia, Cambodia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Security Council still consists of fifteen members. Among them are the five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, who were the victors of World War II or their recognized successor nations. The post US Wants Permanent African Seats In Security Council appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News GAZA CITY/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – The U.N. secretary-general has condemned Israel for attacking a school in central Gaza that killed “at least 18 people,” including staff of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Antonio Guterres said that six UNRWA staff members, as well as children and women, were among the dead after the September 11 “Israeli airstrikes” hit a school serving as a shelter in the Nuseirat refugee camp. “A school turned shelter for around 12,000 people was hit by Israeli airstrikes again today. Six of our UNRWA colleagues are among those killed. These dramatic violations of international humanitarian law need to stop now,” he said in a statement monitored by Worthy News. The attack raised the number of UNRWA staff killed in the armed conflict to 220, according to U.N. estimates. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) countered that the military targeted a command-and-control center in the compound. The IDF says it is taking steps to reduce the risk of harm to non-combatants in Gaza while battling “Hamas terrorists” who use Palestinian civilians as human shields. However, Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the September 11 “incident must be independently and thoroughly investigated to ensure accountability. ” EFFECTIVE PROTECTION “The continued lack of effective protection for civilians in Gaza is unconscionable. Civilians and the infrastructure they rely on must be protected, and the essential needs of civilians met,” he added. “The [U.N.] secretary-general calls upon all parties to refrain from using schools, shelters, or the areas around them for military purposes. All parties to the conflict have the obligation to comply with international humanitarian law at all times,” Dujarric stressed without mentioning Hamas by name. Hamas denies using civilians as human shields, shrugging off evidence it placed its forces and weapons near or in civilian structures such as hospitals, schools, or churches. Following the strike on the school, several other Palestinians reportedly died in Israeli strikes on Gaza City and Khan Younis on Friday, while earlier since Wednesday, at least 19 died in assaults throughout the enclave, said Hamas-backed sources and media. It was not clear whether the reported death toll at the school had been counted among these mentioned figures. U.N. chief Guterres urged the United States in an interview with broadcaster Al Jazeera to pressure Israel to end its “devastating war” on Gaza. However, “I know the American political life sufficiently to know that will not happen.” His comments came while foreign ministers from several Muslim and European countries urged the international community to take “active steps” to implement “the two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including through the universal recognition of the State of Palestine. FREE REIGN Israel’s government says that would give Hamas and its allies free reign to attack Israel as they seek the destruction of the Jewish nation. Yet, despite the war, the first phase of a U.N.-led polio vaccination drive officially ended with about 560,000 children receiving their first dose in 12 days, U.N. officials said. The World Health Organization, the U.N.’s children’s organization UNICEF, and UNRWA called for another round of “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza, fighting for the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign to proceed. The Gaza war was triggered on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to estimates by the Hamas-run health ministry. Yet Israel has questioned those figures and says nearly half of those killed are Hamas combatants. Separately, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi’s body arrived in Turkey’s western Aydin province as the family of the slain American-Turkish activist prepared for her funeral and burial on Saturday. Israel’s military said it was “highly likely” that Eygi, 26, was killed by Israeli fire “indirectly and unintentionally” last week in the West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria, the other Palestinian enclave. However, the Palestinian Authority said autopsy by experts revealed that she had been targeted directly by Israeli forces. Tensions have risen in the area between Palestinians and Jewish settlers amid mounting fears the Gaza war will turn into a broader regional armed conflict. The post UN Chief Condemns Israel For Attacking School; Military Says It Targeted Hamas (Worthy News Focus) appeared first on Worthy Christian News. View the full article